Woods, Herman win FIS World Cup slopestyle at Ushuaia, Argentina

Keri Herman (USA) and James Woods (ENG) took top honors today at the first FIS World Cup slopestyle event of the season. The contest, dubbed the End of the World Challenge, was hosted in Ushuaia, Argentina. The FIS points earned at the event count toward the Olympic qualifying process.

Woods topped the field with an impressive run that consisted of a switch 270 pretzel on the first feature, a 270 out of the next, a switch 630 to switch on the gap to down box, a switch on backside 630 off the up box, a leftside double cork 10 mute, a rightside double cork 12 mute and a switch rightside 9 mute. Sweden’s Henrik Harlaut and Switzerland’s Jonas Hunziker rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively.

Keri Herman’s winning run included a frontside 270, switch corked 7, switch 5, a 360 safety and a cork 5 mute. Eveline Bhend of Switzerland grabbed the second podium spot, and Canada’s Dara Howell placed third. Both Herman and Woods were awarded golden bibs, signifying they are the current FIS World Cup points leaders.

U.S. Freeskiing slopestyle coach Skogan Sprang told ESPN, “The FIS World Cup in Ushuaia, Argentina is the first Olympic qualifier for slopestyle skiing leading up to Sochi 2014. This is such an important milestone for the sport and its athletes. The next 17 months will surely provide a great show and an exciting race to the Olympic Games.”

See how this affects the AFP points standings, right here. See the current FIS Cup standings here.